Chapter 339: Here for the Neurology Department, Right?

He started his car and drove away from the office.

He had a lunch meeting with President Zhao today. Not Zhao Rui’s aunt, of course—he didn’t even know she existed. This was his old boss from Ruijing Commerce, President Zhao, a kindly elder who had taken good care of him during his time there.

Before Yang Hui left Ruijing Commerce, President Zhao had treated him to a meal, and they had agreed to get together again when he had time.

Now that his work here was wrapping up and his schedule was clear aside from regular duties, he had asked President Zhao out for lunch. He’d originally planned for dinner so they could have a few drinks, but after hearing the older man was suffering from gout and couldn’t drink, he’d changed it to a noon meeting.

They arranged to meet at Xinyue Square. It worked out perfectly, as President Zhao was going to inspect one of his stores there, and they could have lunch afterward.

It was nearly the end of the month, and the two stores, NLB and Zen, were locked in a daily battle over sales figures. NLB had opened ten days earlier and had already hit 2.1 million in sales (excluding online), while Zen, boasting slightly stronger brand power and being the only location in Qingjiang Province, had better daily sales. Having been open for just over ten days, it had already brought in 1.7 million.

Every day, the managers and staff of both stores watched each other’s numbers like wolves. The Zen team was desperately trying to close the gap, believing that if they could just narrow the distance this month, they could definitely pull ahead in the next.

Meanwhile, NLB refused to be outdone. Every time the sales gap narrowed, they felt they were losing face. This friendly but fierce competition spurred the sales staff to fight even harder. Lately, many rival companies had sent secret shoppers, and they were all shocked by the operational standards at Yanghe Commerce’s stores.

By the time Yang Hui arrived at Xinyue Square, President Zhao had already finished his store inspection. Yang Hui glanced at the storefront for a moment before heading straight to the third floor to meet him.

“A Hui, you’re looking well. It’s clear you’re doing much better since leaving Ruijing.”

Yang Hui gestured for President Zhao to sit, then called a waiter over and offered him the menu to order. “You’re looking well yourself,” Yang Hui said with a smile. “You look a decade younger.”

President Zhao shook his head and laughed. “Not an ounce of sincerity in those words. I’ve clearly gotten older lately. I’m supposed to be retired, but they insisted on keeping me here. Sigh… I’m just exhausted. When you were around, things were so much easier. Operations ran smoothly, and you even handled all the communications with the mall, which made things easy for Fang Zheng, too.

“But I doubt Xiaofang appreciated any of it. He always thought he could do your job just as well. And now, look at this mess.”

Yang Hui chuckled. He remembered hearing something right after he’d left Ruijing. At a regional general managers’ meeting chaired by the corporate COO, Fang Zheng—a mere acting regional director, no less, and with President Zhao also in attendance—had audaciously taken the floor to show off.

He’d boasted mainly about two things: first, that for all of Xinyue Group’s properties, the renewal terms for the year would see no increases; and second, that all Xinyue Square locations would provide massive support for Ruijing Commerce’s stores, from marketing and promotion all the way to covering promotional expenses.

The first point would save a fortune in rent, and the second would massively boost sales. At a time when the corporation was aggressively pushing for cost reduction and increased efficiency, his announcement naturally earned him high praise from the Chief Operating Officer. The COO even ordered all other regional general managers across the country to learn from the Qingjiang Province branch—to learn from President Fang.

He stole the show, and all the other veteran regional directors got chewed out in the meeting like junior subordinates. On the surface, they all politely claimed they would learn from Fang Zheng, but in reality, they were just waiting for the joke to be on him.

But the moment Yang Hui left, it all went to hell for him. Xinyue Group’s operational support vanished. You can just imagine it: he’d barely taken over, and sales were already dropping month-over-month. The corporate COO was bound to notice and ask why. A quick look would show that the mall’s extra support had disappeared. This was the complete opposite of what Fang Zheng had bragged about. It wasn’t ‘full support’—it was ‘full withdrawal of support.’

Bad performance would have been one thing, but he’d also made the COO lose face. The COO had called for everyone at the national meeting to learn from Fang Zheng, and *this* was the result?

President Zhao ordered a few dishes, then handed the tablet to Yang Hui, who added two more before giving it to the waiter.

“Because he got egg on his face over that marketing support business, the COO is starting to doubt he can even handle the contract renewals. He’s been hounding him to get the new contracts signed. And now it’s a real mess. They’re demanding a massive rent hike, all the way up to Xinyue Square’s current market rate. Their demand is reasonable, but Ruijing Commerce can’t afford it. That hike alone would add almost 10 million to our annual rent costs, and our yearly profit is only a little over 10 million. On top of that, sales are sliding. If we’re not careful, the branch could end up in the red for the whole year.

“Now the COO is watching the Qingjiang Regional Company like a hawk. His assistant is calling Fang Zheng about the renewal progress almost daily. From what I can see, Fang Zheng is completely out of ideas. I hear the Xinyue Group is playing hardball—either accept the terms or vacate. For some of our best locations, like the flagship store right here in this Xinyue Square, they aren’t even negotiating the rent anymore. They’re just telling us to get out.

“What are we supposed to do? Rent is skyrocketing, sales are plummeting, and now they’re forcing us out of our best locations. It’s like he’s trying to run the whole branch into the ground. Even though the corporation isn’t really watching me anymore, a situation like this… it feels like I’m going to have my reputation ruined right at the end of my career.”

Yang Hui refilled his cup with water and said comfortingly, “The leather shoe and goods business has been tough these last couple of years. In the malls, they just classify us as a boutique accessory, so we don’t get much attention. The whole market is struggling. You don’t need to blame yourself.”